An earned compliment costs nothing, but its returns are immeasurable. Very humanly, when we are complimented, when our efforts are appreciated, most of us will usually strive to perform even better down the line. What a return on the investment of delivering a few earned words of praise! – G. Kingsley Ward

All courses of action are risky, so prudence is not in avoiding danger (it’s impossible), but calculating risk and acting decisively. Make mistakes of ambition and not mistakes of sloth. Develop the strength to do bold things, not the strength to suffer. – Niccolo Machiavelli

I wanted to achieve something essential in life, something that is not measured by money or position in society. The mountains are not stadiums where I satisfy my ambitions to achieve. They are my cathedrals, the houses of my religion. In the mountains I attempt to understand my life. They are the way I practice my religion. In the mountains I celebrate creation, on each journey I am reborn. – Anatoli Boukreev